1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to nanoparticles, and particularly to the synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanoparticles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Graphene oxide (GO) has two important characteristics: (1) it can be produced using inexpensive graphite as raw material by cost-effective chemical methods with a high yield, and (2) it is highly hydrophilic and can form stable aqueous colloids to facilitate the assembly of macroscopic structures by simple and cheap solution processes, both of which are important to the large-scale uses of graphene.
Graphene exhibits excellent mechanical, electrical, thermal and optical properties. It can be produced by micro-mechanical exfoliation of highly ordered pyrolytic graphite, epitaxial growth, chemical vapor deposition, and the reduction of graphene oxide (GO). The first three methods can produce graphene with a relatively perfect structure and excellent properties. Due to its remarkable physical, chemical, and mechanical properties, and with a view to important applications, graphene has been emerging as one of the areas of research attracting great interest in academia and industry. Recently, graphene has attracted much attention in the scientific community for its numerous potential applications in biotechnology, including bio-sensing, disease diagnostics, anti-bacteria and antiviral materials, cancer targeting, photo-thermal therapy, drug delivery, and tissue engineering.
Thus, the synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanoparticles solving the aforementioned problems is desired.